Met Grotto travelled to Franklin, WV for 3 days over the July 4 weekend. We did Sites, Hamilton, Trout, New Trout, Sinks of Gandy, Kee's, Harper's Pit - and Nelson Rocks via ferrata iron rung/rope bridge/steel cable route. Photos from Via Ferrata. Read the full trip report below.

The sign at trailhead (Photo by Scott S.)	The crew sclimbs one of the many vertical iron rung ladders (Photo by Scott S.)	Tabatha and Sean cross the 200' steel cable bridge (Photo by Scott S.)	Christian followed by Adrian on the bridge (Photo by Scott S.)
Adrian crosses the bridge, while Bob waits his turn (Photo by Scott S.)	Two of the crew coming down an iron rung ladder as seen through a tree (Photo by Scott S.)	Adrian comes around the edge of Nelson Rocks, just after the bridge (Photo by Scott S.)	Rainbow somewhere in PA after rain on drive home (Photo by Scott S.)
Gary, Andy, Sean, Bob & Scott at the cabin (Photo by Lisa)	Bob sporting his new gift T-shirt from the Franklin, WV Carnival (Photo by Lisa)	Approaching the bridge (Photo by Tabatha)	Stepping out onto the bridge (Photo by Tabatha)
Looking back at the bridge (Photo by Tabatha)	Part of group on trail after finshing via ferrata (Photo by Tabatha)	Andy, Bob, Tabatha & Scott at the restaurant by Seneca Rocks (Photo by Tabatha)	Bob strikes a pose (Photo by Tabatha)
Group relaxing over pizza in Seneca Rocks (Photo by Lisa)

Click on thumbnails for larger versions of images.

West Virginia Cave-Dependance Day
July 4-6 - Franklin, West Virginia
Revellers included Scott, Seth, Cramp, Gary, Bob, Tabatha, Tim, Andy, Christian, Adrian, Sean, Lisa, Michelle.

The weekend was full of excursions departing daily from our base camp at Thorn Spring Park, in Franklin, WV. This campground is literally minutes from some awesome caving, and has been a regular caver stopover for years. Cabins have bunks, stoves, refrigerators and bathroom/showers - all for $7 per person, per night.

Friday we meandered out of bed somewhat late, many of the cavers tired from the 7-8 hour drive, some arriving as late as 6 AM that morning. Once awake, some dived into cereal and other cabin foods while others took off to eat at local places. Nearing the noon-mark, we figured out how to split the group up for multiple trips. One group headed to Harper Pit for some vertical caving and the other to Hamilton/Trout/Sinks of Gandy for horizontal caving.

The vertical group consisted of Scott, Gary, Bob, Sean and Lisa. Sean and Lisa had some vertical experience under their belt and wanted to cramk it up a notch. While Harper Pit is not hardcore by any means, it does have at least 2 drops, the entrance being about 70 feet and your choice of second drops of 50 or 25 feet, both leading into the same lower sections. We spent 3-4 hours in the cave, and exited to the nearest supermarket for BBQ supplies.

The other group was led by Seth and Cramp, taking Christian, Adrian, Andy and Michelle into the nice mazey beginner caves. Wanting to make a real day of it, they finished the Hamilton-area caves and headed to Sinks of Gandy. Following some strange law of caving, they arrived back late, just as we were considering calling out the rescue.

We BBQ'd Friday night, mixing in some kiddie fireworks procured in Pennsylvania. Pork was the meat of choice in the firepit, and veggie stir-fry wafted from within the cabin.

Saturday morning Tabatha arrived with her brother Tim. Once again we split into two groups, one going vertical to Sites Cave and the other to Kee's Cave for some milder horizontal caving. Seth led the Sites trip with Cramp, Sean, Lisa and Bob. Scott and Gary took Christian, Adrian, Tabatha, Tim, and Andy to Kee's, avoiding a youth group and another couple in this not-so-large cave. The horizontal trip ended in 2 hours, and instead of seeking another cave, we returned to the cabins to rig some ropes in the trees along the river to practice vertical.

Gary and Scott assisted Christian, Adrian, Andy, Tim and Tabatha on rope. We had our own gear plus Met's new grotto vertical frog systems to try. New cavers love the opportunity to try out different items, setups and hang on rope for 45 minutes while attempting changovers.

Saturday night most of the group was too tired to cook and headed to the local Mean Gean's burger joint to enjoy "two-fisted" goodness. A carnival was taking place in Franklin as well, so we popped over to stand out in the local flavor, skipping the ricketty rides in favor of sucker games. We won very little. We departed the carnival with a nice gift for Bob, a black T-shirt with a freshly pressed image of his favorite farm animal. Keep your eyes out for it...

Our final day had us heading for a change of pace - the Via Ferrata at Nelson Rocks. Italian for "Iron Way," via ferrata is basically a pre-set route up, over and through cliffs, with steel cables, iron rungs and cable bridges. The 2-hour trip has us scaling rock walls on iron rung ladders, constantly clipped into the steel cables (we had to unclip/reclip over 100 times). In the middle was a 200' long steel cable bridge with wooden 2x4 steps, conveniently spaced more than a foot apart. Throw in swaying from the wind and vertigo from looking down, I felt like an old lady with a walker crossing that bridge. I'm not sure anyone could make it look more graceful. The place was a welcome change from caving and everyone loved it.

After Nelson Rocks, we ate and departed for the long haul home. Everyone enjoyed the many activities, new experiences and new friends acquired along the way. It was indeed a happy Fourth of July.